it's so clear that when faced with higher level player, my strokes look a lot worse. so a basic conclusion about video, you need to really see the opponent's level before judging the level of one player.

As a rec player that has played for a couple of years, Id feel confident Id be able to match you with my groundstrokes mostly, but Id kill for the conistency of your serve, particularly in the first vid....

lots of nice groundies being hit. i like this camera location the best to see what's going on on the court.

one thing that really stuck out to me is that none of the players take a ball on the rise. consequently any deep high topspin ball, the OP and the others on the videos run back almost to the back fence to take the ball in their strike zone. and then they scramble like mad back to about 5 feet behind the baseline.

it's so clear that when faced with higher level player, my strokes look a lot worse. so a basic conclusion about video, you need to really see the opponent's level before judging the level of one player.

it's so clear that when faced with higher level player, my strokes look a lot worse. so a basic conclusion about video, you need to really see the opponent's level before judging the level of one player.

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Very much enjoyed watching these vids. Thanks. Some nice hitting and serving. You appear to have as good or better technique than all but a couple of the best 3.5s I've played against in my limited experience so far. If that's your current rating, then I agree with the posters who said you're on the cusp of moving to a higher level.

You can win points and games against the higher rated players. In the video where you lost 0-6 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1I5OkWCwQI&feature=youtu.be ), it looks to me like you're in pretty much all of the points, eg., nice 19 shot rally in a point that you won between 8:10 and 8:45. So, with a bit of tweaking of your game to decrease the rate of unnecessary errors and increase the rate of forcing shots that you hit, I can see you regularly beating those guys.

Ok ... I just noticed that you had bolded the word skinny in LeeD's post. So this is just a misunderstanding on my part, as I thought you were asking how is it relevant to say that the OP should swing harder and hit a faster 2nd serve (when it's obvious from his first serves and ground strokes that he certainly can swing harder and hit faster 2nd serves).

But I will now say that I think there's also some relevance to LeeD's mentioning the OP's build.

I won't go 4.0 yet.
Powder puff serves get returns into the backhand corners.
As for my serve. Notice it goes out wide, at the service line/sideline intersect. Notice it's March, first day of the year since Nov. Notice how wild the serves are.... Notice it bounces 3' high at the 21' baseline, OUT WIDE, and can you hit that bounce?
Notice LeeD hobbles around. Notice LeeD cannot run, or plant his left foot.
Now YOU try serving, no backfoot plant, no ability to run or jump, HOW WOULD YOUR SERVE GO?

I just re-watched the vids against the good player. I think he is a very strong 4.0. Certainly has some traits of a 4.5. So you were really playing up there.

I think (and this isn't rocket science) you need to work on your return of serve and 2nd serve. These are both really important areas (obviously) and it would benefit you a great deal to focus on them. If both improved, you'd be a 4.0.

I don't know about invariably, but I agree that some of LeeD's posts come across as extremely arrogant. So what?

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So what? So people don't generally take kindly to arrogance in any setting, especially if the person is not in any kind of position to judge. That's why the D-Man gets so many negative reactions to his posts.

I agree with the Govnor. He's not 4.0 yet, because of his 2nd serve and his anticipation. He has no anticipation, he just reacts to his opponent's shot.
Critique is NOT a group hug or a pat on the back. It's CRITICISM.
If you can't take the heat, get off the fire.
As for "big guy" vs "small guy".
That one is basic. Big guy has POTENTIAL to serve much faster. Like Milos, Ivo, Roddick (185 lbs.), DelPo, Querry, Isner.
They serve harder than medium size guys like DJ, Fed, Nadal, Murray who...
ALL SERVE harder than the little guys!
Big guy who can't serve hard is a slow moving duffus on a tennis court with no power to hit out of his own two clumsy feet!

I agree with the Govnor. He's not 4.0 yet, because of his 2nd serve and his anticipation. He has no anticipation, he just reacts to his opponent's shot.
Critique is NOT a group hug or a pat on the back. It's CRITICISM.
If you can't take the heat, get off the fire.
As for "big guy" vs "small guy".
That one is basic. Big guy has POTENTIAL to serve much faster. Like Milos, Ivo, Roddick (185 lbs.), DelPo, Querry, Isner.
They serve harder than medium size guys like DJ, Fed, Nadal, Murray who...
ALL SERVE harder than the little guys!
Big guy who can't serve hard is a slow moving duffus on a tennis court with no power to hit out of his own two clumsy feet!

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You're right. He's scrambling all out for balls he should have been able to get to without much of a problem.

So what? So people don't generally take kindly to arrogance in any setting, ...

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Yes, that's usually true for me too. But not as much in this setting. Anyway, I think LeeD is an entertaining, and often informative, poster, and a talented individual. Perhaps we've established, unwittingly, some sort of rapport on some level.

As Govnor noted, noticing that the OP's serve is unnecessarily slow isn't rocket science. Anyway, one of the main reasons I like this forum is that there's lots of different posters with different opinions. A person can know the right thing to do without ever having done, or being able to do, it.

Tony appears to be a fit, strong, and athletic type of guy.
But, in tennis, his anticipation is nil, so he has to react to every ball. Then he moves like a crab, instead of a gazelle. Kinda like JackB1, who is a better hitter, but moves like that.
Not saying I'm a HenryHines mover, but no one is talking about my speed and grace.

Tony appears to be a fit, strong, and athletic type of guy.
But, in tennis, his anticipation is nil, so he has to react to every ball. Then he moves like a crab, instead of a gazelle. Kinda like JackB1, who is a better hitter, but moves like that.
Not saying I'm a HenryHines mover, but no one is talking about my speed and grace.

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I look forward to seeing the OP improve and respect him for posting these videos, I'm sure your contribution will help him immensely.

I agree with the Govnor. He's not 4.0 yet, because of his 2nd serve and his anticipation. He has no anticipation, he just reacts to his opponent's shot.
Critique is NOT a group hug or a pat on the back. It's CRITICISM.
If you can't take the heat, get off the fire.
As for "big guy" vs "small guy".
That one is basic. Big guy has POTENTIAL to serve much faster. Like Milos, Ivo, Roddick (185 lbs.), DelPo, Querry, Isner.
They serve harder than medium size guys like DJ, Fed, Nadal, Murray who...
ALL SERVE harder than the little guys!
Big guy who can't serve hard is a slow moving duffus on a tennis court with no power to hit out of his own two clumsy feet!

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Fair enough, that makes sense to me. I'll tell the big guys I know to sort it out!

1. You sometimes jump to early on return of serve maybe it would be better returning a few feet behind the baseline.
2. Your groundstrokes are rock solid, just try to become more consistent in keeping them in.
3. I saw some nice serve and volley. Good job

I myself am trying to improve from 3.5/4.0 to 4.5. jump ropes. 4 sets of 250 in the morning. Takes 10 minutes.

Harry

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thanks Harry. jumping ropes is indeed great and I have started to do it recently. normally I will do a workout called roger federer workout, which is 1 minute jumping ropes and then 1 minute of core exercise. in total it's 10 sets of each. great workout.